1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hub assembly for a hard disk drive.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard disk drive assemblies typically include a magnetic disk which is coupled to a hub. The hub is connected to a motor which rotates the disk relative to a head/actuator arm assembly. The head of the actuator assembly is adapted to read and write data onto the disk while the disk is rotating. Magnetic disks can be constructed from a relatively brittle material such as ceramic. For this reason, the disk are susceptible to cracking and breaking when subjected to excessive shock forces.
There has been a desire to construct portable hard disk drives that can be removed from the computer and carried by the user. Allowing the user to periodically handle the disk drive may result in the unit being dropped or otherwise subjected to high-G shock loads. Subjecting the disk drive to excessive shock loads may cause the disk to move relative to the hub and magnetic heads of the assembly. Relative movement between the disk and magnetic heads may lead to errors in the subsequent operation of the disk drive. It is therefore desirable to construct a hard disk drive hub assembly which can withstand large shock loads, while maintaining concentricity between the disk and hub. It is also desirable to provide a hard disk drive hub assembly that has a profile small enough to fit within a pocket-size card which can be plugged into a computer system.